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Ripstone Games, makers ofPure Chess(2012),are bringing their upcoming sequel Chess Ultra to PlayStationVR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. The classic chess game features a number of beautifully rendered environments that will finally make youfeel like the rich and magnanimous Grandmaster you always knew youd becomeor a streetwise criminal whos broken into a closed museum to host underground chess games to the death. That last one sounds way more fun actually, but sadly not a part of the game.

Coming this spring, Chess Ultrawill offer the discerning chess Wunderkind10 different AI levels to battle against, a variety of finely crafted chess sets, and online play, something Ripstone promises will have plenty of game modes to keep you and your friends entertained online.

The developers are remaining tight-lipped on any specific features beyond the ones detailed above, but if the games PS3/PC predecessorPure Chesscan give any clues, its probably going to be packed with the standard smattering of chess puzzles, tournaments, and likely a robust tutorial to teach you all the ins-and-outs of the Kings Gamenot to mention environments spanning the usual offerings of posh penthouse apartments, English sitting rooms, and private libraries straight from Harry Potter. Although still unannounced, Im personally hoping for online avatars, specifically one with a captains hat and ascot so I can cosplay as the rich guy from Gilligans Island (1964).

Ripstone producer Kelly Willoughby says in a PlayStation blogpost announcing the game, that the company still has big surprises up our sleeves that we cant wait to shout about!

The game is also coming to PS4, Xbox and PC via Steam. Theres currently no official word on if the game will offer cross-platform multiplayer.

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Kireka Chess Club player Shakira Ampaire has declared herself ready for the forthcoming Zone 4.2 African Individual Chess Championships that commence thirteen days from now at the Central Hotel, Jimma Ethiopia.

Ampaire, a league winner with Kireka last season secured her ticket to this years edition last month following her fourth-place finish at the Zonal Qualifiers.

In an interview with Kawowo Sports, Ampaire said: Im ready for this. I have been preparing for this mentally and training wise since last year.

But that doesnt mean I have stopped training. When you are preparing for tournaments like this, you prepare as much as you can. Sometimes you feel you want to do more and more thats why even Grand Masters prepare every day and before every game no matter how good they are. You cant prepare enough to be comfortable.

The 26-year-old says she uses video tutorials from International Chess Coaches and Grand Masters to analyse different strategic moves and also chess puzzles for her training.

And like any competitive mind, Ampaire who was MVP National University Sports Federation Uganda [NUSFU] in 2013 has her targets in Ethiopia set already.

She said: The target is to increase my rating and at a minimum, acquire a Woman Fide Master title. Victory for me in Ethiopia would be acquiring that title or more.

Who gets awarded at the Zonal Championships?

At the Zonal Championships, one must emerge champion in the Open category to earn the International Master [IM] or in the Women category to earn the Woman International Master [WIM] title.

For the FM or WFM title, the player must garner at least six points from nine games, and the Candidate Master [CM] or Woman Candidate Master [WCM] title goes to that player who collects at least 4.5 points.

Ampaires performance at continental level

Last year in July at the African Individual Chess Championships held here in Kampala, Ampaire finished 20th with 3.5 points. The rated 1423 managed just a couple of victories, drew thrice and lost as many games.

That was after she had missed an opportunity to attain the CM title following her ninth-place finish with 4 points at the Zonal Championships held in Dar es Salaam in April.

Asked whether she has improved since then, Ampaire said Yes! So much. I played with stronger players and got to learn from most of my mistakes so I have improved my game. I like to think of myself as a winner because I always come back up each time I am defeated and try to better myself.

After my game with the Angolan WIM (Domingos Maria M who she lost to in the final round at the Individuals) she showed me my blunder and how I was so close to drawing the game against her. So that showed me that I should believe in myself more and not worry about my lower rating when playing against the stronger players because they are also beatable.

Last year, I missed getting the title by a point in the Zonals. Thats why I want to do better this time around.

The best way to improve your chess is practicing! And the funniest way to practice is solving puzzles! Train your tactical abilities solving all kind of situations like the ones you’ll find over a chess board at a real game.

You can play in unrated mode, just for fun, without recording your solving history. Or you can have full tracking of your progress solving in Rated mode. If you play in this mode you’ll also obtain problems according to your current level.

Solve chess problems taken from real games. You should find the best continuation for you opponent’s moves.

Train your abilities facing chess studies from the most complete database of problems, created by the greatest composers.

Good news! Only a few minutes every day solving puzzles and you will boost your chess!

If you want to improve your game the fastest, easiest and most fun way, start solving puzzles right now.

One thing that is absolutely undisputed in chess training philosophy is: solve tactical chess puzzles regularly and you’ll get better and better everyday.

Train your abilities facing chess studies from the most complete database of problems, created by the greatest composers.

A chess puzzle is a puzzle in which knowledge of the pieces and rules of chess is used to solve logically a chess-related problem. The history of chess puzzles reaches back to the Middle Ages and has evolved since then.

Usually the goal is to find the single best, ideally aesthetic move or a series of single best moves in a chess position, which was created by a composer or is from a real game. But puzzles can also set different objectives. Examples include deducing the last move played, the location of a missing piece, or whether a player has lost the right to castle. Sometimes the objective is antithetical to normal chess, such as helping (or even compelling) the opponent to checkmate one’s own king.

Whereas the term chess puzzle refers broadly to any puzzle involving aspects of chess, a chess problem is an orthodox puzzle (see below) in which one must play and win or draw a game, starting with a certain composition of pieces on the chess board, and playing within the standard rules of chess.

Orthodox chess problems involve positions that can arise from actual game play (although the process of getting to that position may be unrealistic). The most common orthodox chess puzzle takes the form of checkmate in n moves. The puzzle positions are seldom similar to positions from actual play, and the challenge is not to find a winning move, but rather to find the (usually unique) move which forces checkmate as rapidly as possible.

Heterodox chess problems involve conditions that are impossible with normal play, such as multiple kings or chess variants, while fairy chess problems employ pieces not used in orthodox chess, such as the amazon (a piece combining the powers of the queen and the knight).

Chess puzzles can also be regular positions from a game (with normal rules), usually meant as training positions, tactical or positional, from all phases of the game (openings, middlegame of endings). These are known as tactical puzzles. They can range from a simple “Mate in one” combination to a complex attack on the opponent’s king. Solving tactical chess puzzles is a very common chess teaching technique. Although it is unlikely that the same position will occur in a game the student plays, the recognition of certain patterns can help to find a good move or plan in another position.

Some chess problems, like the Eight queens puzzle or the Knight’s Tour, have connections to mathematics, especially to graph theory and combinatorics. Many famous mathematicians have studied such problems, including Euler, Legendre, and Gauss. Besides finding a solution to a particular puzzle, mathematicians are usually interested in counting the total number of possible solutions, finding solutions with certain properties, and generalization of the problems to nn or rectangular boards.

Practical exercises generally fall into one of two categories: tactics and analytics.

Tactics Puzzles In tactics puzzles, a position is presented with a forcing line of play available, making the goal to find that variation. Solving such puzzles improves one’s tactical vision, awareness, and pattern recognition.

When faced with such puzzles, the general strategy is to analyze the position as one would a real game, but the solver has an advantage in knowing that a tactical blow is present. It then becomes even more beneficial to organize one’s calculations in the following order:

It is rarely the case that the most accurate move in a tactical puzzle does not fall in one of the above categories.

Analytics Puzzles Analytics puzzles are much more involved, asking the solver to come up with a positional plan for the next few moves. Endgames, in particular, often involve little calculation and more long-term planning. These puzzles are not as commonly seen, however, because they demand a relatively high level of skill to reasonably approach, and because their somewhat subjective nature can make a proposed plan hard to judge, they are not automatable.

The next moves to consider are captures, revealing the solution: 1. Nxd5!

Black cannot recapture the knight with his pawn on c6, as the bishop on b5 would put him in check, and his queen is under attack. When his queen moves, White will also be able to capture the knight on e4, as it will no longer be defended by Black’s queen. If Black tries to avoid this by playing 1… Qe6?, White wins the game by playing 2. Nc7 (check), attacking both the king and the queen simultaneously.

Solve a chess puzzle, enter the weekly drawing as often as you like, and win awesome prizes! Winners prizes are listed below. If you dont win this week, try again next week! New puzzles are posted daily!

Chess Puzzles Weekly Prizes

Below are the weekly prizes we send out! If you dont win, try again the following week for your chance to win! Click on the prize to learn more about it.

Checkmate In One Prize

Chess Rules For Students Workbook

An instructional workbook designed for students learning the game of chess. Click here to learn more!

The best way to improve your chess is practicing! And the funniest way to practice is solving puzzles! Train your tactical abilities solving all kind of situations like the ones you’ll find over a chess board at a real game.

You can play in unrated mode, just for fun, without recording your solving history. Or you can have full tracking of your progress solving in Rated mode. If you play in this mode you’ll also obtain problems according to your current level.

Solve chess problems taken from real games. You should find the best continuation for you opponent’s moves.

Train your abilities facing chess studies from the most complete database of problems, created by the greatest composers.

Good news! Only a few minutes every day solving puzzles and you will boost your chess!

If you want to improve your game the fastest, easiest and most fun way, start solving puzzles right now.

One thing that is absolutely undisputed in chess training philosophy is: solve tactical chess puzzles regularly and you’ll get better and better everyday.

Train your abilities facing chess studies from the most complete database of problems, created by the greatest composers.

IM Daniel Rensch Plays Beat The Clock With Chess PuzzlesCan IM Daniel Rensch solve two weeks of chess puzzles in just 15 minutes? Watch as he solves in real time with a ticking clock counting down. Sign up for FREE online play: http://www.Chess.com&hellip;

How to Solve Chess Puzzles #23I share my thoughts while trying to solve 3 chess puzzles. Feel free to quickly pause the video before I share what I'm thinking with each chess puzzle if you'd like to solve them on your own….